The Jacksons
by mochiTheCat
Summary: After fighting armies of monsters, navigating through Tartarus, and saving the world on multiple occasions, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase embark on their newest adventure: Raising a family together.
1. Chapter 1

The waves rolled in lazily as Delta Grace Jackson stood on the shore, watching carefully the lines it left on the sandy beach. With her sea green-eyes set with determination, she pulled tight the straps of her life-jacket.

"Half-way," she muttered to herself. "I'll just go half-way."

The little girl took a few steps closer to the water and stared out: she could see her two older brothers splashing around with their father. She was envious – and not so secretly, but she just couldn't get over her fear of water; she didn't understand it the way they did; she had questions, concerns, reservations. The vast and ancient sea, however, had no answers for her.

"You have that look on your face."

Delta turned to see her mother who crouched down next to her. She looked at Delta with her deep gray-eyes which always seemed to look beyond the surface and into the little girl's mind.

"What face?"

Her mother smiled. "The one that says you're over-thinking things."

Delta frowned. "Daddy says I get that from you."

"Probably. So you want to talk about it?"

"I'm trying to enter the ocean," Delta explained simply. "I'm going to go half-way, and then half-way, and then half-way until I reach the water."

This had seemed a sensible approach to the situation, and now she awaited her mother's deliberation.

"That's mathematically impossible," her mother concluded after a brief moment of thought, and before Delta could defend her hypothesis, her mother pushed her forward, causing her to stumble past the half-way point.

"MOM!" Delta cried, outraged.

But her mother just laughed. "Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith, sweetheart," she said with a warm smile that easily abated her daughter's anger. "And trust that you're stronger and more capable than your mind tells you."

"If my mind sets the boundaries of my reality, then how can I so easily ignore – "

A large shadow suddenly passed overhead: a black pegasus circled the beach, descending rapidly. He landed with a thud on the sand and galloped to where Delta stood with her mother. The grand creature snorted, bobbing its head magnificently. He looked at Delta, and if pegasi could smile, he did.

Delta's father joined them on the shore moments later; he'd summoned a wave to bring him in quickly.

"No fair, Dad!" Delta could hear one of her brother's shout. They too had summoned waves, but smaller and slower. Her brothers were naturals when it came to controlling water like their father, but they clearly still had a lot to learn.

"Hey Jellyfish," Delta's father said, leaning over and kissing her on the head. "How's the conquest going?"

"Mom's debunked my hypothesis – again."

Her father gave her mother a look. "Annabeth, come on."

"Her method was flawed."

"She's five, not flawed."

"She's my daughter and she knows better."

"She's my daughter too," her father interjected. Annabeth didn't respond, but raised an eyebrow as if her husband had made a statement of conviction rather than a statement of defense.

The pegasus whinnied. "Sorry, Blackjack," Delta's father apologized. "You know how priorities change once you have a family."

The winged-horse neighed and pawed the ground, muttering something about _not_ knowing since he hadn't met the perfect partner yet. He carried on, relaying some news about some monster Delta had never heard of (and she'd heard of a lot of monsters). By now, her brothers had reached shore.

"Oh hey Blackjack!" the older one shouted, running up and wrapping his arms around the pegasus's flank.

Her other brother also ran up, but stayed next to their mother; he liked pegasi, but always tended to shy away from them. "Hello," he greeted politely; Atticus was not one to overlook formalities.

" _Yo Maximus! Nemo!_ " Blackjack brayed, throwing back his head and shaking his mane.

"Don't call us by our middle names," Chase chided, stepping back to stare up at the creature towering over him. "And don't forget about our little sister either."

Blackjack looked at Delta and winked. " _I didn't forget about the little princess, but she's clearly got business with the water._ "

"Observant," Delta responded with an appreciative nod. She brushed a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face and turned her attention back to the ocean. Even though she was only five, she knew that if she couldn't learn to work with water, it wouldn't matter how many monsters she knew. She wouldn't stand a chance against any of them.

"Okay, okay. I'll come with you. Annabeth, you take the kids back to the cottage. I'll be home before midnight."

"Percy, be safe."

Delta's parents kissed, then her father hugged each of the boys before walking over. "Your mother's right," he whispered, putting an arm around her. With his other hand, he summoned a small stream of water, making it dance around them like a ribbon. "You can't think too much about it; you just gotta feel it." He kissed her on the head again. "It's in your blood Jellyfish."

"Be careful Daddy," Delta whispered back, hugging her father around the neck. "And come home early because I have some questions to ask you."

Her father laughed. He got to his feet, kissed his wife one more time, then hopped onto the back of the pegasus, and flew off into the sky.

"Well then. Who's hungry?" Annabeth asked her children. The answer was unanimous; time at the beach always built up an appetite. She asked her two boys to start packing up their things, then turned to her daughter. "You, little miss, have something to accomplish before we go." Slowly, the daughter of Athena waded into the water, stopping when it reached her waist. "Don't think about how much water there is. Just come to Mommy."

Delta seemed to consider this. "Clever," she murmured to herself, tugging on her life-jacket straps. She took a step forward then stopped to stare at the water, only inches from her toes.

"Don't look at the water, baby. Just look at Mommy." She held out her arms toward her daughter. "Keep your eyes on me, and put one foot in front of the other."

Delta shuffled her feet hesitantly, then, taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, plunging her foot into the surf. Her eyes widened as she stared out at her mother, who was beaming. The little girl barely had a moment to contemplate her experience when her mother was suddenly dragged beneath the water's surface. Panic took Delta. Her heart stopped beating, she couldn't breathe; her body wouldn't move, her brain wouldn't think. She screamed.

In response, the water before Delta parted, forming a path on the ocean floor and revealing her mother. Choking and kicking, Annabeth fought her assailant: a large squid-like creature with six glassy eyes had wrapped one of its twenty tentacles around Annabeth's ankle, another coiled around her neck and would have crushed her throat if she hadn't managed to put an arm in between.

"Mommy!" Delta cried. Her knees shook and her body felt like lead; whether it was from fear, shock, or the toll of parting the sea, she didn't know, but she knew she couldn't hold on much longer. Suddenly, her burden lessened; her brothers had come to their aid, each pushing a side of the watery corridor.

"Mom!" Chase cried, staring horrified.

Atticus didn't say anything, but he was deadly pale. A soft wind ruffled his hair and, growing stronger, formed dark clouds above them.

Suddenly the wind changed, bringing the scent of a bad storm.

"Dad!" Chase shouted, looking in the direction of the new wind.

Even from his position in the air, Percy could command the water. He took the weight of the ocean from his children with one hand and threw his sword like a dagger with his other. The blade impaled itself in one of the squid's eyes with deadly accuracy, causing it to loosen its hold on Annabeth enough for her to reach a dagger she kept strapped to her thigh at all times. She sliced off the tentacle holding down her leg, then kicked the squid in another eye. The kids could hear a sickening _crunch_ from where they stood on shore.

As Delta watched her mother fight, she had the vague impression that her father had landed somewhere behind them, but even as he charged forward, Delta's vision was turning black. The last thing she remembered was the sound of her brothers calling her name as she collapsed.


	2. Chapter 2

When Delta woke up, she found herself in her worst nightmare: submerged in water with no sight of surface. There was an immediate onset of panic as Delta struggled to breathe; she thrashed about, flailing her arms and kicking her legs. As she searched for the way up, she was frightfully aware of the all encompassing ocean, threatening to crush her little bones. Strong hands gripped her shoulders and she saw her father. He wore a concerned, slightly amused expression on his handsome face, and Delta propelled herself forward into his arms. She gasped and gulped, swallowing sea water as she tried to communicate with him.

"Whoa," she could hear him say to her. He created a large air pocket around them, and Delta took deep, painful breaths of sea-fresh air. "You're okay Jellyfish."

Delta loved her father, but it irritated her that while he was completely calm and completely dry, she was soaked, cold, and coughing up water as she gasped for air. "What happened?" she asked, still looking around for the surface. She suddenly remembered the beach, the squid-monster, and her mother. "Where's Mom? And Chase? And Atticus? Is everyone okay? Is Mom okay?"

"Everyone is fine," Percy reassured her. "Thanks to you. What you did was amazing Jellyfish. You saved your Mom, you know."

Delta recalled parting the sea like recalling a dream; it was a fuzzy, hazy scene that made her entire body tingle. "I-I made the water move," she recounted, furrowing her brow.

"Yeah you did."

Percy Jackson, son of the sea god Poseidon, was clearly proud of his little girl.

"Why are we in the water?"

"You collapsed, sweetheart," her father explained. "So I brought you in here to get better. I know you don't understand, but water heals you just like how it heals me." He nodded at a couple of sea fish who had come by, stopping to bob a few times, which Delta assumed was some sort of fish curtsy.

"Daddy, have you ever been scared of the water?"

"I've told you before that I have: I was afraid of drowning when I was younger."

"How did you stop being afraid?"

Her father shrugged. "I just did."

Delta frowned. "That's not an explanation."

"I know, Jellyfish, but I don't know what to tell you. Just like how you saved Mommy, when the time comes your instincts will take over, and you won't doubt yourself."

The daughter of Percy Jackson took a moment to think on her father's words. "So you're saying that the root of fear is doubt – or perhaps the lack of faith?"

"Is that what you think?" Percy asked her in return. He glanced in the direction Delta assumed was "up"; after the monster squid attack, Delta guessed her father was a bit worried about leaving the rest of their family on the surface.

"We can go, Daddy," Delta said with a small smile. "I feel okay now. Thank you."

Percy pulled his little girl into a big hug, kissing the top of her very blonde head and her cheeks. "I'm _so_ proud of you," he said in between all the kisses. "But don't you _ever_ scare me like that again."

* * *

That evening, back at the cottage, Delta's brothers retold the Epic Battle of _Mommy versus Monster-Squid_ about fifteen times, each retelling more extravagant, more embellished, and more graphic than the last. Delta wondered if this was how legends were born and started questioning the general accuracy of mythology.

The kids went to bed early; they were exhausted after all, and knew that their parents needed some alone time after the day's events. Typically, after a monster encounter or near-death experience, Percy and Annabeth spent a little extra time together. Some kids thought their parents spending romantic, alone time together was gross, but when your parents were demigods, constantly battling monsters, living one day at a time, you learned to appreciate every moment you survived to hug and kiss the people you loved most. Delta relished the moments her father would pick her mother up and spin her around, making her laugh; all the times her mother would punch her father in the arm when he said something stupid or made a bad joke; all the kisses they shared when they thought no one was looking, and the way they stared into each other's eyes as if nothing existed beyond each other.

The greatest lessons about love, sacrifice, compromise, acceptance, forgiveness, and graciousness Delta learned not from books, but from watching those closest to her, and her parents were her primary teachers.

* * *

A few more carefree days at the beach, a few more pounds of sand in the family car, a few more failed attempts to really get into the water, and one blue birthday cake later, it was time to head home; back to the city. As much as Delta enjoyed their annual trips to the beach, she _loved_ the city. There was so much to see, so much going on, and oh the public libraries! And when you weren't in the mood for the library (something Delta had yet to experience, but was well-prepared for), there were museums.

Another reason Delta was stoked to return to the city was because she always got to spend the first few days following family vacation with Uncle Malcolm – one of Annabeth's half-siblings, who worked as a curator of ancient texts for one of the city museums. Uncle Malcolm wasn't married and didn't have any kids of his own, so he wasn't very conventional in his childcare approach, but Delta liked that about him; she liked that he didn't filter all his thoughts regarding the art of book-binding, how he openly discussed his mixed feelings about the digitizing of literature, and when he lamented over the loss of the ancient Library of Alexandria. He also answered many of Delta's questions honestly, including all her queries about the godly side of their lives.

"Uncle Malcolm: do you have any fears?"

Malcolm pondered this question while studying his niece. They were having Afternoon Tea on the museum's private terrace. "The imbalance of temperature and relative humidity," he answered at length. Delta knew her uncle well enough to know this was not a joke. "Oh, and spiders, of course," he added with a shudder.

Delta didn't much like spiders either, and though her fear wasn't borne from the hate of Arachne, she was still extremely wary of them.

"And how do you stop being afraid of ... those things?" she asked.

Again Malcolm took some time to answer. "You know Miss Jackson, I never stop being afraid of those things." He sat forward in his seat and leaned toward Delta. "Some fears can be conquered, others can only be managed. A great deal of courage and strength is required, and there is pride and elation to be found in both cases."

Delta had never considered this option before – to manage her fear, to deal with it moment to moment, to live with it.

It seemed tedious.

"I wish I could just squash my phobia," she grumbled, snapping a cookie in half. She munched on it thoughtfully while her Uncle Malcolm picked up a book and started reading.

"Delta," he prompted, without looking up from the page, "What is it about water exactly that you're so afraid of?"

"I don't understand it," Delta answered quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly...

"There are plenty of books and other resources on water. Do those not help?"

"It's not _water_ I don't understand," Delta clarified – well, at least in her mind it was a clarification; thankfully, Uncle Malcolm was a patient man. "I know _what_ water is ..."

"... Go on," Malcolm encouraged, peering over the edge of his book.

"It's like water is alive," Delta elaborated, stuffing the other cookie half in her mouth. "And I don't understand _who_ water is."

Most of Malcolm's face was hidden behind his book, but Delta suspected he was smiling smugly behind his tome.

"Delta my dear, have you ever met your Grandfather?"


	3. Chapter 3

Grandbabies were the new rage in Olympus. They were so cute and squishy, and you could spoil them without having to worry about the repercussions. There was no binding responsibility for gods to claim their grandchildren, but they often did – and (much to the chagrin of their _actual_ children) in a timelier manner than they were required to claim their own children.

It was an idyllic summer evening when Poseidon burst into the throne room on Olympus.

"Behold!" he shouted, extinguishing all the fires in the room – except the central hearth of course. Hestia may be inherently kind, but she would've smote the Sea Lord where he stood if he doused the sacred fire. "My newest grandchild!" Poseidon struck the ground with his spear and brought forth a gushing fountain of water, spraying high into the sky above the Olympians. On the surface of the water, he projected a live image of Percy and Annabeth, arriving home from the hospital with their newborn daughter. It would have been a magnificent display had the picture not been out of focus.

"Umm, my Lord," Athena murmured, shuffling up next to him. Being the mother of Annabeth, Athena wanted to show off _her_ new granddaughter as well. She pointed at the blurry video.

"Hollering Humpbacks," Poseidon cursed. He retrieved a conch shell from his robes and started speaking into it. "Delphin it's me: The picture is out of focus. Yes I'm sure; I'm looking right at it. No, that's worse! Good Gods Mammal, I did not give you legs to get this wrong."

"Might I point out that this is his _third_ time filming as well," Athena commented, looking unimpressed. "If I may?" She held out her hand for the conch-communication device, which Poseidon grudgingly handed over. "Hello Lieutenant, this is Athena. Is Chase around? Give the camera to the boy, please. Yes. Yes that's much better already, thank you." With a smug look of satisfaction, the Goddess of Wisdom returned the conch to Poseidon, and then took her place with the other Olympians.

"Yes, the picture is perfect now," he muttered irritably to his lieutenant. He stuffed the shell back into his robes and cleared his throat. "Behold!" he said again.

The other Olympians took this as their cue to "ooooh" and "aahhh".

"Her name is Delta Grace Jackson," Athena announced, looking as proud as Poseidon on the occasion.

For the remainder of the evening (and the hours leading into daylight), the two doting grandparents revelled in the praise that flowed forth from their peers – which was just as well, because their granddaughter would soon shake the very foundations of Mount Olympus.

A few days after her birth, Poseidon went to visit his granddaughter. He would have liked to have been in the delivery room for the birth but his son and daughter-in-law thought that would be "inappropriate". He brought with him some gifts: sea-themed onesies, baby booties that looked like flippers, a hanging mobile made of pearl, abalone shell, and glistening sea glass shaped into various sea creatures; he also brought a horse formed of water that could change size on command, growing as the child grew. It was self-contained in a small aquarium about the size of a Chinese take-out box and "completely self-cleaning," he assured the parents.

The baby was perfect. She had Percy's sea green-eyes and the slightest showing of blonde fuzz on the top of her head. Though she had weighed in at over eight-pounds at birth, she was tiny in Poseidon's arms. She slept soundly the entire time he held her, which he found surprising considering the sea he sensed within her – a tumultuous storm, like the seas of old.

"A little maelstrom," he called her, with a smile as vast as the oceans upon his face.

Poseidon would face the truth of his words before Delta turned one.

* * *

A hundred years of human life passed like a single night to immortal gods, but waiting for his turn to babysit his grandchildren? Poseidon could barely sit still for a week – especially when he had arranged for them to visit Olympus.

"We're almost there," Poseidon said as the magic elevator propelled them up to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. Chase was bobbing up and down on the balls of his toes, apparently as excited as his grandfather; Atticus clutched onto Poseidon's other hand, his green-eyes staring at the rapidly ascending numbers on the floor indicator; the littlest Jackson slept peacefully in her carrier, her chubby cheek resting against the King of the Ocean's chest. A loud 'ding' announced their arrival.

The doors opened to a magnificent scene, one that Chase and Atticus would remember for the rest of their lives despite being so young. As Poseidon led them through the streets and buildings, the two boys bounced around, climbing marble pillars and sticking their hands into fountains; they met minor gods and danced with nymphs; they tasted the sweetest berries and drank milk from magic cows. All the while, Delta slept.

Now, suffice it to say that Poseidon had been around for a _long_ time and had sired _many_ children, however, his parenting skills were _far_ from perfect. He brought the kids to a body of water that he had magically linked to the Atlantic Ocean. Chase and Atticus had been in the ocean before but Delta had not, and Poseidon didn't want her parents to miss out on that, so while he took the boys into the water to play, he left Delta – still asleep – on the shore. Yes: he should have known better, and yes, he probably could have asked someone to watch her instead of leaving her by herself, but he didn't. Oh well.

Delta stirred from her slumber. She was an expert crawler and, noticing her brothers and grandfather splashing around in the water, made her way to the water's edge. No one knows for sure what exchange she had with the water but when Poseidon noticed, it was already too late: The storm that had been sleeping inside Delta unleashed itself.

"Grandpa! What's happening?" Chase cried out, grabbing his brother protectively.

Poseidon immediately calmed the waters around them and moved inland toward the storm. Indeed, it was like taming the oceans when the world was still young, carving out the continents and swallowing islands to shape the landscape. Over the din, he could hear the cries of his granddaughter and even from a distance he could see the distress on her face. He knew the waters would not calm if the girl didn't.

Poseidon pushed forward, subduing the waves, soothing the winds, and steadying the ground with every step. But as he got closer, the storm grew wilder, as if fearing his power. And there stood Delta, knee deep in the water, crying. She stopped a moment to hiccup, and stared at her grandfather. For a moment, the storm quieted. But only for a moment. A sudden burst of gale force winds hit the god, causing him to stumble back a step. He cursed under his breath as he dissipated the blast with a wave of his arms. The sound of running made Poseidon turn, and he watched as his two grandsons ran past him and straight into the centre of the storm – to their sister.

The maelstrom subsided instantaneously, leaving the three Jackson children huddled together. Delta had found comfort in her brothers; whether they had known that going in, Poseidon couldn't be sure. He walked over to the kids, scooped them up into his arms, and carried them back onto land. He dried them off and led them into Central Olympus where he found Athena. He shared with her what had happened, then asked her to take them back to their parents. Normally Athena wouldn't have accepted an errand from Poseidon, but then again, Poseidon normally wouldn't have given up his time with his grandkids. Once the children were gone, Poseidon retired to his room and exhaled so loudly, he set off the alarm in the Empire State Building. Poseidon had not seen this characteristic of the sea – or of himself – passed on to a descendant in millennia.

Now that he had found it, he wondered if he would ever see it again.


	4. Chapter 4

When your parents are demigods, you learn life's lessons a little differently. For example, you were taught to be wary of strangers because they might actually be monsters, and if you felt like someone (or something) was watching or following you, you called your parents right away – and not with any regular old phone either. Oh no, you stuck to the designated Demigod Communications line (also known as TLAC), or if you couldn't get any signal where you were... well, hopefully you had access to water then, to place an Iris call. You also learned to be prepared for just about anything – which was very different from packing an extra sweater, a mini-umbrella, and a couple of granola bars; it was more like, "Do you have your ambrosia and nectar? Your imperial gold pocket knife and celestial bronze brass knuckles?"

Things were particularly complicated when you were related to one of the Big Three gods – Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades – because they had greater powers than the other Olympian gods, and this meant extra testing and training to figure out what you had inherited and how to properly use it. Lots of kids took swimming lessons when they were little; it was good exercise and a necessary life skill. Percy's kids didn't just have swimming lessons, they also had hydrokinesis lessons to learn to control water. When they lived out West in New Rome, these lessons would happen at the local community pool, but since moving back East to New York, the kids had these lessons at their Grandma Sally's place. Somehow, she had managed to convince the building manager to allow her an hour of private pool time every week.

Despite her fear of water, Delta was a good swimmer – at least she was in the pool. But things changed drastically whenever she faced open water, like the substance was no longer water but something foreign and incomprehensible. She also couldn't control pool water; like all other sources of water, she could feel it, but it wouldn't listen to her. Her parents suspected it had something to do with her aquaphobia. They figured once she got over her fear of swimming in open water, she'd be able to control all water like her father and brothers.

Delta liked talking to Grandma Sally about her water issues because not only was Grandma Sally a great listener, but she always told Delta stories about her father when he was younger – which didn't really help with her problem, since according to everything Delta heard, her father was exceptionally talented, displaying his natural affinity with water at a very young age – but she still enjoyed the stories.

"Grandma," Delta asked one day as her brothers were trying to hold all the pool water above their heads. "Can you tell me about Grandpa? Not Grandpa Paul; the other one."

"Sure Pancake." Grandma Sally answered, easy-going as always. "What do you want to know?"

The problem was, Delta didn't know what she wanted to know. After some thought, she asked, "What did you like most about him?"

Her grandmother took very little time to answer. "His eyes. And how he made me laugh."

Delta didn't find this information very helpful, so she pressed on. "Were you scared the first time you met him?"

"He looked just like a normal man walking along the shore – except he had this huge trident. I laughed at him and teased him about it, only to find out soon after it was real – and that _he_ was real." Her grandmother smiled and the crinkles around her eyes deepened. "I probably should have been scared, he was the Lord of the Ocean after all, but I wasn't."

"Did you ever wish you could live in the ocean with him?"

To Delta's surprise, her grandmother laughed. "Oh honey. Even if I did there was no place for me there. Not everyone belongs in the sea, after all." She paused to brush back Delta's blonde hair. "But you, my little Pancake, most certainly do belong to the sea. And the sea belongs to you."

"The sea belongs to me," Delta repeated to herself. She was about to ask her grandmother to elaborate when Grandpa Paul suddenly burst in.

"What is it?" Grandma Sally asked, her expression changing immediately.

"Gather the kids Sal. We need to get back upstairs."

* * *

The elevator ride back up to Grandma Sally and Grandpa Paul's unit was tense. Apparently a storm had come over the city very suddenly dumping sheets of rain non-stop, causing flash flooding and power outages. Once in the door, Sally tried to reach Annabeth on the phone while Paul called Percy.

"Won't connect," Paul reported, shaking his head. "There probably isn't any signal between here and there."

"Annabeth's building lost power and everyone was evacuated to a safe holding location. She's going to try and get away as soon as she can, but with the weather like this..."

"It's okay," Paul said, putting his arms around his wife. "Annabeth is strong; she's been through worse. She'll get here. We just have to sit tight and wait." He kissed her then ushered her over to where the kids sat on the couch. "Now, I'm going to grab our emergency kit and some snacks. Any special requests for juice?"

"Apple please, sir."

"You got it Chase. Atticus: peach?"

"Yes please."

"And Delta?"

"Apple as well, please."

Grandpa Paul smiled. "Two apples and a peach coming right up."

He returned shortly after and for a while, all was well – except that the storm raged on. In the middle of their first round of _Monopoly_ (Atticus was just about to buy Reading Railroad), the building lost power. Grandpa Paul grabbed a flashlight while Grandma Sally lit some candles.

"Well this is getting cozy, isn't it?" Sally commented with a reassuring smile.

And she would have been right, had the outer wall not exploded.

An exploding wall was one thing, but even with all the broken glass and debris getting tossed around by the howling wind, it wasn't nearly as bad as what showed up after the wall blew out. A monster. A huge thing with the body of a bird except four large hands where its feet should be, and an extremely long monkey's tail coming out the back. It had two heads that looked slightly to either side with large beaks protruding from both faces.

"I thought I smelled something good," one of the faces said, its beak making a clicking sound as it spoke. The tail whipped around dangerously, taking out chunks of the remaining wall and knocking debris down below.

"Sally," Paul muttered without taking his eyes off the monster. "Tell me that thing isn't a Californian Condor."

"No Paul," Sally answered steadily. "It's definitely not."

"Good, because I didn't want to accidentally take out such a magnificent creature." He got to his feet and threw something long and shiny at the monster. With a thud, Paul's large flashlight had made contact with the one of the monster's heads. Paul hadn't hoped to kill it by any means, he knew it took more than that. His plan was to buy them some time to escape. The problem with a two-headed monster though, was that one set of eyes could be distracted by the attack, while the other kept watch over its quarry. The tail lashed around, knocking Paul off his feet as he hurried the kids out of the room.

"Don't stop!" he shouted when the kids turned back, looking horrified.

The tail whipped around again as the monster stepped further in to pursue its prey. Sally pushed the kids down to the ground and threw herself over them just as the monster took out the ceiling.

Through the noise of the storm and the monster's attack, Delta heard the sound of metal creaking, followed by pipes bursting, and a jet of water pushed back the rubble of the falling ceiling. Chase wriggled himself free from their grandmother's protection and jumped to his feet. He gathered the water into a large disc to ward off the monster's next attack, then used it to push the monster back.

"What is this?" Delta could hear the monster say. "Food that fights back?"

"The fresher the better," the other half replied.

"No family meal for you today," Chase countered with a grunt of effort.

Atticus ran forward to help: he gathered more water and pummelled the monster. Using the water to boost him up, Chase kicked the monster across both faces, his sneakers – woven with fine metallic threads of celestial bronze – dealing a debilitating blow. The monster stumbled back, dazed, and with one more punch of water, Atticus sent it reeling back into the storming sky.

The good news: the monster didn't try for a second attack. The bad news: it wasn't done with its first yet. The monster opened up its enormous wings and sent Chase and Atticus tumbling back with the turbulent wind it generated. At the same time, its tail shot forward and wrapped itself around Delta's arm, pulling her from Sally's grasp. She screamed as the monster took flight.

Chase launched himself out the gaping hole in the wall at the monster. He managed to grab onto one of its wings and swung himself onto its body. Delta held on tightly as her eldest brother thrashed the monster, punching and kicking every square inch of its body he could reach. There was a sudden jerk and Delta looked back toward the apartment: Atticus had formed a water-rope and attached it to the bird's hand-feet. Water crept up his legs, up to his knees, acting like an anchor as he kept the bird from flying away. The monster bobbed up and down in the air as it tried to break free from its restraint and fend off Chase's attack; it didn't even care about Delta anymore as its tail had long unwrapped itself from her arm, and was twitching to defend its main body. Finally, Chase dealt the finishing blow and the monster disintegrated into dust which was immediately swept away by the storm.

And then they were free-falling.

Delta wrapped her arms around her brother's neck as he tried desperately to shape platforms with the rainwater to slow their descent. But it wasn't working. They were plummeting to their deaths. Suddenly, flood waters surged toward them from all directions – an impossible amount of water reached up as a voice shouted at them from above.

"Brace yourselves!" Atticus screamed.

The last Jackson had jumped out the window after his siblings to save them.


	5. Chapter 5

The column of water rose up as two of three Jackson kids crashed through its surface. Delta didn't even have time to panic for herself as she watched Atticus lose consciousness and tumble into the receding tide. Chase acted quickly, extending the water to soften his younger brother's impact. However, once in the water, their problems weren't over. A strong current dragged them along as helplessly as the sea equivalent of tumbleweed. Delta could tell her eldest brother was tired but he still tried to break them free, all the while keeping them together in an air pocket he'd formed soon after their submersion.

"Delta," Chase said through gritted teeth as he focused to stabilize the walls of their pocket. "Atticus... his backpack."

The youngest Jackson noticed then that Atticus wore a backpack – their demigod emergency pack; he must have grabbed it before throwing himself out the window after them. Delta carefully removed the pack and opened it up; she retrieved a bar of ambrosia and broke off a small piece, putting it in Atticus's mouth. She then got to her feet and fed some to Chase as well. "Thanks," he said, managing a smile. "Now sit down and watch Atticus. I'll get us out of this, somehow."

They were tumbling along in the water when something large swam by them, then stopped and turned back. Moving with alarming speed, it circled their bubble like a curious dog might investigate something with an interesting scent. Apparently satisfied (or perhaps, further curious) it stopped.

"Hello," she said to the bubble. It was a Nereid. Her voice was light and reminded Delta of water being stirred; she had a beautiful, kind face, but her eyes were cloudy. The Nereid raised her hands and placed them on the wall of their bubble, pressing it all around. "You're very round," she said with a smile. "And very bouncy."

"Thanks?" Chase replied uncertainly. He was having a hard enough time maintaining the integrity of the air pocket, it probably didn't help that this random sea goddess was now pressing it on all sides.

"Could you stop that, please," Delta asked politely.

"Oh I'm sorry!" the Nereid apologized, releasing them immediately. "That was rude of me." She continued to circle around them, though now she kept her distance.

"Do you think you could help us find our way?" Chase asked. "We're trying to get home."

"And where is home?" the Nereid responded.

Delta exchanged looks with her brother; they knew it was neither wise nor safe to share certain personal information, like where you lived, your favourite kind of candy, or your social security number – especially with a stranger.

"Umm..." Chase hesitated. "Land?"

The Nereid shook her head, her short hair swishing side to side. "I'm not very good with land," she replied sadly. She pointed to her eyes. "I can't see on land."

"You're blind," Chase murmured; stating the obvious, Delta noticed.

"Yes, from the filth that feeds into my waters." She tilted her head a little and stared off wistfully, maybe remembering the days of cleaner, healthier seas. It made Delta feel sad. "But," the Nereid added, sounding a bit more cheerful. "I know someone who knows Land quite well."

"Are they around here?"

The Nereid smiled but didn't answer. She put her hands on their air pocket and millions of tiny bubbles started to form around them. Delta and Chase lost sight of where they were (not that they knew where they were in the first place, but it was alarming just the same), and when the Nereid's bubbles cleared, they found themselves on the doorsteps of Atlantis.

* * *

The Palace of Poseidon was enormous – way bigger than the New York Public Library; the front entrance could have easily accommodated the coming and going of a blue whale. Delta would have liked to marvel at the palace a little more but their sudden appearance had attracted the attention of the palace guards, who very quickly surrounded them. As the head guard scrutinized their air pocket, his expression changed suddenly.

"Call for the Queen," he instructed two sentries.

Moments later, the two sentries returned, escorting the most beautiful woman Delta had ever seen. Delta's standard for beauty was her mother – there was no one more beautiful than Annabeth Chase, not even Auntie Piper or her daughter, who were descendants of Aphrodite. But seeing the Queen of the Sea created a brand new standard – one that no mortal could ever hope to reach: Her beauty was that of the sun setting on the water or moonlight twinkling on its surface. It was the meeting of the sky and the sea, tangible and yet unattainable.

The guards bowed to her, and Chase and Delta found themselves doing the same.

"Rise," the Queen commanded, her voice as cold and clear as the waters around them, but there was warmth in her eyes as she looked upon the children of Percy Jackson. "Welcome," she said to them, the slightest smile appearing on her lips. "To the Kingdom of Poseidon – your Grandfather. What are your names?"

"My name is Chase Maximus Jackson, the eldest son of Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase."

Delta didn't know how or why, but Chase seemed different as he spoke – stronger, bolder; certainly more eloquent. "Err, this is my brother," he continued, patting the unconscious boy on the head. "Atticus Nemo Jackson. He exhausted himself saving our lives, so please forgive him for not being awake."

With the slightest gesture, the Queen raised them up in their pocket of air; she reached in and gently rested her hand on Atticus's head. His eyes fluttered open, then widened to the size of tuna cans when he saw the Queen.

"Where are we?" he asked his siblings quietly, not daring to move.

"Atlantis," the Queen answered. She lowered their bubble back to the ground and nodded for Chase to continue.

"This is Delta Grace Jackson," Chase finished. "Our little sister."

"The Maelstrom," the Queen remarked, regarding Delta with particular interest.

"Maelstrom," Delta echoed quietly.

"This... bubble is for her?" The Queen indicated their air pocket, drawing a circle with her hand. Chase nodded. The Queen flicked her hand and the bubble dissolved. Delta held her breath instinctively. Her brothers moved at the same time – maybe to recreate the bubble, maybe to reassure their sister, but both were halted by the Queen, who raised her hand. As the Queen watched Delta closely, she could feel the water around her begin to stir. Delta was suddenly aware of the sound of her heart beating, of the blood flowing through her body, the pulsing in her veins. She exhaled what was left of her breath as fear gripped her, and then she watched – in terror, as a stream of water whipped around her and lashed out toward the Queen of the Sea.

Moving faster than the Nereid they had met earlier, the Queen stepped around the violent stream of water, then, grabbing it with her hand, she pulled. Delta flew off her feet and into the Queen's grasp. Delta opened her mouth and filled her lungs with sea water; she coughed and gasped, struggling to breathe. To her great surprise, the Queen smiled – kindly, warmly. She lifted Delta and kissed her on the forehead. The fear in Delta subsided, the tension in her body melted away, and she relaxed.

"Breathe, Little Storm," the Queen said to her. And she did. "I am Amphitrite, Wife of Poseidon, Queen of the Sea. With my sisters, I calmed the ancient waters when the world was young, and tamed the waves that ground the bones of the Earth into sand." She walked forward and placed Delta back on the ground, between her brothers. "But you may call me Grandmother if you wish, and it is high time you held court with your Grandfather."

* * *

The children followed Queen Amphitrite through the halls of Atlantis until they reached the great throne room; it was empty. They continued through the throne room and arrived at a non-descript door at the very back. Amphitrite opened the door and ushered the kids into a room that can only be described as a Man Cave. The first thing Delta noticed was an enormous television screen which was mounted on the wall above a vast collection of electronics, including video game consoles and more game discs and DVDs Delta had ever seen (mostly because DVDs were kind of rare now). How these devices survived underwater, Delta couldn't even begin to guess.

Sitting at a table, eating a sandwich and reading a book, was Poseidon himself. At first he didn't look up, even when Amphitrite cleared her throat.

"Just a moment, dear," he said, taking another bite of his sandwich. Finally, he peered up from _The Old Man and the Sea_ , and seeing his grandchildren, dropped everything. "Kids!" he shouted, running to them and catching them up in a big hug. "What are you doing here? How did you even find this place?"

When Poseidon set his grandchildren down, Chase shared their story, starting with the weather back in New York up to the point where the blind Nereid sent them to Atlantis and they met Amphitrite.

"Your parents must be worried sick," Poseidon noted, furrowing his brow. "Amphitrite, can you send word to Percy and Annabeth: tell them the kids are here. Oh and... can you contact Sally and Paul too? Thanks, dear."

After Amphitrite excused herself, Poseidon looked over his grandchildren with grandfatherly love; his gaze lingered on Delta and he seemed to peer straight into her soul. Something stirred in her stomach as if trying to escape, but a soothing warmth trickled down from her forehead and the restlessness she felt settled down.

"How about a tour, kids?" the Lord of the Sea suggested.

It seemed silly to go on a tour of Poseidon's Underwater Palace after everything they had just gone through, but Delta _was_ curious to see the rest of it. Their grandfather narrated the tour with the most ridiculous facts, completely irrelevant to the history and architecture of the actual palace – facts like how he had once raced his lieutenant on the back of a hippocampus through a particular corridor, or the secret spots where he kept snacks hidden, or which corners he always accidentally walked into. But when Poseidon brought them to his library, all was forgiven.

Delta had seen some beautiful libraries in her short life, and she had seen pictures of even more from all around the world. The library of Atlantis was more astounding than all of these combined. The walls stretched further in and further up than Delta could see, housing an unfathomable collection of books.

"Every book, journal, scroll, or map lost at sea is collected and brought here; every novel, picture book, magazine, and TV guide swept out by the sea. Even ancient texts and tomes written in languages long forgotten by men rest on these shelves."

Sea-folk – creatures like octopods, crustaceans, and merpeople – darted in between the shelves, either browsing or organizing the vast collection. A crab the size of a Labrador retriever scuttled up to Poseidon and presented him a book it held gently in its claws. "Still writing," Poseidon murmured, turning it over in his hand. "Good ol' Rick. Add it to my reading pile, will you, my good arthropod." The crab bowed – actually, Delta wasn't sure a crab could bow, but it bent its legs a little before scuttling off again.

"Grandpa," Atticus spoke up, staring after the crab. "Wasn't that – "

"Yes! – I pre-ordered it from Amazon. You may borrow it if you like. I have all his books; I find them entertaining. They're kept in that section, next to my collection of photo books of cats."

"This is great and all," Chase interjected. He wasn't nearly as big a fan of books and reading as his other two siblings. "But shouldn't we be getting back home to mom and dad?"

"But you just got here," Poseidon replied, looking defeated. "And I've waited so long to see you three."

"You have?" Delta asked, peering up into the Sea God's face. His eyes twinkled as he winked at her.

"Maybe Chase and I should talk with mom and dad," Atticus offered, though he looked longingly at the books around him. "You can spend some time with Delta since..." He trailed off and Delta couldn't help but wonder what he was going to say.

"Since?" she prompted, looking from her brothers to her grandfather. No one supplied her with an answer.

"Fine," Chase conceded. He pushed open the door and stalked out into the hallway.

Atticus ran after him, shouting, "You don't even know where you're going!"

Poseidon summoned a dolphin who was browsing a nearby shelf and sent it after the two boys.

"So," the God of the Sea said, kneeling to face Delta. "Shall we see what we're up against?"

He placed his hand on her head and wiped her forehead with his thumb; a chilling sensation coursed through her body, and that something in her stomach that had stirred earlier erupted.


	6. Chapter 6

The surge knocked Delta back, but Poseidon simply flicked the tempest away like he was brushing crumbs off his shirt.

"You caught me off guard once," he said to Delta, the sparkle in his eyes replaced by the intensity of his power. "It won't happen again." His trident suddenly appeared in his hand, and he swept it around him, pointing it straight at Delta. The force of the water that washed over Delta was tremendous; she wondered how she even managed to stay on her feet. "Breathe!" he commanded her, and in her shock, she did, but the sea water burned as it entered her lungs, and she coughed out the last remaining breath of Amphitrite's serenity. Delta had thought she wanted to squash her fear, to conquer it by force – it appeared her grandfather had the same idea – but it was very different in practice than it had been in theory. She tried to control the power within her, the power fighting against her, the power raging against the might of the god before her, but she couldn't, even in her desperation. She wasn't her father, she wasn't her brothers; she just couldn't do it.

Delta fell to her knees as her eyes stung with tears. The maelstrom grew more turbulent as confusion clouded her heart. Around her, shelves started to shake, knocking books to the floor. All the sea-folk had already retreated; it was just the two of them now. She thought of her family and how she wanted to be with them; she didn't know her grandfather, even if she might love him. He was scary.

"You're letting it get the best of you," she could hear him say, his voice sounding distant though he was close by. "Your lineage is strong, Delta," he continued. "Where is that strength?"

"I don't know!" Delta shouted, covering her ears with her hands. "I want my daddy! I want my mommy!" She pictured her parents – she even pictured her brothers who were annoyingly impossible to live up to.

The pressure around her dropped and the noise died down. She looked up and saw Poseidon smile.

Suddenly, there was a loud boom, and at first, Delta thought she had done something terrible, but when she turned around, she saw her father standing in the doorway, looking angrier than she had ever seen him.

"Daddy!" she shouted, running toward him. She flung herself into his arms and started to cry.

"It's okay," he said to her, stroking her hair. "Daddy's here."

Through her tears, Delta could see her brothers behind their father: Atticus's expression was unreadable – typical. Chase, on the other hand, looked defiant; he hadn't been happy since they arrived in Atlantis.

Poseidon greeted his son with a steely grin. "Percy."

"Dad," Percy returned. "We _talked_ about this."

"Oh she was doing fine," Poseidon scoffed, waving his hand like the manifestation of Delta's turmoil was nothing.

"That's not the point!" Percy shouted. "This isn't how Annabeth and I wanted – "

Poseidon chortled derisively. "Five years and the girl still can't stand in the water."

Percy's green-eyes flashed dangerously. "She's _our_ daughter," he said, biting each word. "And we love her to the ends of Tartarus – even if she never touches water again."

"This is _part of who she is_ ," Poseidon argued.

" _This_ is not _all_ she is," Percy countered.

The temperature began to rise and the water started to churn around them. The God of the Sea raised an eyebrow. "Oh come now, son," he said in a patronizing tone. "You're about a thousand years too early to challenge me."

Chase took one step forward to back-up their father, but Percy put his hand out to stop him. "Stand back, Chase," he said sternly. Then, with a softer expression, he added, "I know it's hard, but this is not your fight." The waters calmed as Percy took a deep breath. "I'm not challenging you, dad," he said evenly. "Because these are _my_ kids, and you don't get to tell me how to raise them."

Poseidon also took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, Delta thought he looked a little older. "I'm not trying to tell you how to raise them, Percy," he said. "I just want to help." He released his trident and it disappeared. Delta could see now how Grandma Sally thought Poseidon was just a normal guy.

"I'm sorry if you were scared," Poseidon apologized, kneeling to face Delta. He held out his hand to her, and she took it, shaking it amicably. "I hope you won't think poorly of me."

* * *

Poseidon sent Delta and her family back to the Jackson Home with a wave of his hands. Annabeth was waiting for them, and wrapped her arms around them as soon as she saw them. That night, they ordered pizza from their favourite restaurant and sat around the dinner table, talking over the ordeal. Everyone listened attentively as Delta did her best to retell her encounter with the God of the Sea.

"So you breathed underwater on your own," Atticus highlighted, looking pleased.

"Are you stupid?" Chase retorted. "It happened because she was scared – because he forced her to."

"Grandma Amphitrite helped her breathe too," Atticus argued, turning red in the face.

"But she lashed out first, remember? Neither of them taught her how to do anything; they just forced things to happen with their stupid god powers."

"That's enough, Chase," their mother commanded, quieting down her eldest son. "Now, you said 'stupid' twice..."

"I stand by both," Chase remarked, glaring at his younger brother.

Percy got up from the table and walked over to a chalkboard where they kept tally of name-calling – if you called someone a name and stood by your decision (you were always given one opportunity to retract and apologize) you received one mark, which corresponded to completing one random chore from the chore jar. He added two marks under Chase's name.

"I didn't mean what they did was right or even the best way to handle the situation," Atticus continued, speaking slowly. "But it's obvious that they _can_ help Delta. And," he added, glancing in Delta's direction. "We're running out of time."

"What do you mean running out of time?" Delta asked.

"Way to go," Chase murmured, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"Sweetheart it's nothing serious," their mother started to explain. "But you'll be starting school next year and we had hoped – "

"That I'd be able to protect myself," Delta finished. Of course, because up to this point in her life, Delta had always been with someone – her parents, her brothers, a relative or family friend – someone who could protect her and keep her safe. Once she started school though, she would be spending a huge part of her day on her own. Chase would be ten by the following year and attending a different school than Delta. Atticus, who was only three years older than Delta, would have been in the same school as her, but, being brilliant, he went to a private school.

"Like your mom said, Jellyfish: it's no big deal. We can work around it."

"How?"

"Well there's always homeschool."

"Percy..."

"What? I'm not suggesting that _I_ homeschool her."

"We could move back to New Rome," Chase suggested.

Everyone stared at him.

"Sorry, buddy. That's not an option," their father said at length.

"What about Camp Half-Blood? Even if Delta's too young to be a junior camper, surely Chiron can make an exception?"

Their mother shook her head. "You know Camp Half-Blood insists that demigods attend regular school if they can, Chase, and Delta won't get the same education just being at camp."

"I'm just trying to help," Chase grumbled.

"We know, sweetheart," Annabeth soothed, squeezing Chase's shoulder.

A few more suggestions and another near-argument between Chase and Atticus led their mother to suggest they put the topic on the shelf for the time being. Later that evening, when Delta was being tucked in by her mother, she mentioned one more idea – one she had thought of earlier, but had been afraid to say out loud.

"Mom," Delta started, as her mother lay next to her on her bed, flipping the pages of a children's book. "What do you think about me staying with Grandpa Poseidon and learning to control my powers?"

For a long moment, Annabeth didn't respond. Then, with a sigh, she closed the book and looked over. Her expression was more difficult to read than Atticus's. "Is that what you want?" she asked.

"I don't know," Delta replied truthfully.

Annabeth sat up and held her daughter. "Earlier, when I said it wasn't a serious matter, I meant it. I ran away from home when I was about Atticus's age, and your father didn't even know he was a demigod until he was older than Chase. There is absolutely no need to rush into a decision."

"But I only have a year!"

"Yes, and that is a lot of time to have, Delta. Time to brainstorm and discuss and plan before we act." She kissed Delta on the head and squeezed her tighter. That night, as Delta fell asleep with her mother's arms around her, she knew what she wanted, and by morning, she had made up her mind.


	7. Chapter 7 Final

Knowing what you wanted was one thing; convincing your parents and brothers that it was a good idea was a completely different matter. Delta wasn't smart like her mother: it might take her more years than she had to come up with a plausible explanation for her fear of water, and even then, there was no guaranteed way to counter it. She also wasn't naturally talented like her father – or her brothers, who took after their father when it came to inherent skill. They had never had to think about what they were doing and so couldn't understand Delta's struggle. There was only one person Delta could think of who could understand the temperamental storm inside her, and that was her grandfather – because it was a characteristic inside him as well, one that he had learned to regulate.

At first, Percy insisted on accompanying Delta, but he was also reluctant to leave the rest of his family.

"Delta will be safe in Atlantis," Atticus had pointed out on her behalf at that time. "She'll be with Grandpa and Grandma – and Uncle Tyson too."

Eventually her parents would agree but only under the conditions they set, which were that she only stayed three days at a time, and never over the weekend. Her father would drop her off in Atlantis and pick her up; she was never allowed to travel between the two places alone.

Poseidon and Amphitrite agreed easily enough to accommodating Delta and operating under the conditions set by Percy and Annabeth. Delta could never have anticipated how rough things would get though. She went to bed every night exhausted, and for the first month, it seemed like she had made no progress whatsoever. To help her better understand the essence of water and its many forms, her grandfather brought her to different parts of the ocean to witness underwater earthquakes, raging whirlpools, and massive ocean storms, but also calm coral reefs, underwater mountains and cliffs, and various deltas where rivers met the sea. She met many Nereids and Naiads, and other creatures of the sea, making friends with some – others not so much. One creature in particular liked to lie through his gills, claiming to know everything from how many teeth sharks had to how long turtles lived; he was wrong on most counts but that didn't seem to stop him from spreading these falsities across the ocean.

November rolled around and a few days before returning home for Atticus's eighth birthday party, Delta found herself moping around the library. Poseidon had said she could pick out any book she wanted to give to her brother as a present, but she was too distracted to even read the titles she perused. For more than two months she had trained with her grandfather – an Olympian god – and aside from not panicking anymore and being able to breathe underwater, she hadn't accomplished much. She even needed extra sweaters to help regulate her core temperature underwater. Of course her family had told her not to worry about it, that they were proud of her no matter what the results. But the results mattered to Delta.

"How about this one?"

The blind Nereid, named Actaea, had made her way to Atlantis at some point, and befriended Delta. Being blind, she couldn't actually see the books, but she still swam around from shelf to shelf, picking up whichever book _felt_ interesting to her.

"I think that book's written in Japanese," Delta said with a smile.

"He could learn, couldn't he?" Actaea reasoned, turning the book over in her hand. She replaced it on the shelf, swam a few feet further up and to the right, and picked out another book. "What about this one?" she asked with a grunt. The book was nearly as large as Delta.

"Umm no."

The two girls browsed in silence for a few more moments, before Actaea asked Delta a question. "Aren't you happy?"

"What?"

"Happy – just being the way you are? I mean, why are you so obsessed with your powers?"

Delta frowned. "You've met my brothers – and my father. It's an integral part of my identity. I can't be the daughter of Percy Jackson, landlocked."

"Well... Why not?"

Actaea floated down to Delta and lifted her chin so that Delta looked into the Nereid's milky eyes. "You know, my vision could have been restored to me by my sister or her husband, Lord Poseidon, but I never asked them to. Why? Because, even without my vision, I never felt I was lacking anything."

"But don't you want to see?" Delta asked.

"Of course I do," Actaea laughed. "One day, if my waters clear up and my vision comes back, I'll be happy to see again, but I've also accepted that it might never happen. And I'm okay with that."

The party was held at Grandma Sally and Grandpa Paul's building so the kids could play in the pool if they wanted (Delta was beginning to feel her family was a bit too water-oriented). All their close family friends were in attendance which was nice, because they were quite spread out and didn't get to see each other as much anymore. Grandma and Grandpa's unit had been magically restored from the last monster attack, and everything down to the last picture frame was just as it was before.

"So I hear you've been doing some training with your _abuelo_ ," Edison Valdez said to Delta as they sat together by the pool. Edison was the younger of the Valdez twins, who were a couple of years older than Delta.

"A little," she said without elaborating.

"So can you do some really awesome things now, like… emptying the whole pool with just a snap of your fingers?"

Delta rolled her eyes. "No, I can't do that, because that's not how it works. You can't just make water disappear."

Edison looked a bit disappointed, but shrugged it off a moment later. "I wish I could spend some time training with my _abuelo_ , but he and dad are too busy working all the time."

"I'd invite you to spend time with Grandpa Poseidon, but I doubt you'll learn much from him – not to mention you wouldn't even survive underwater."

"What if I built a suit – like those deep-sea diving bots? It could have arms and – oh! – mechanical fingers that could like, grab stuff, like fish and – "

" _You_? Build something? Ha!" his sister Marisol teased. She was only a few minutes older, but she was already nearly half a foot taller than her brother. Delta had heard that Marisol was very much like her father when it came to innovative spirit and working with her hands. "Unlikely, considering your LEGO projects."

"Shut up," Edison snapped, getting to his feet. "Those projects are top secret – you just don't understand them!" His hands lit up in flames as he leaned threateningly into his sister.

"Mom! Edison started a fire again!" Marisol yelled.

From where the parents stood chatting, Calypso turned her head and shouted back, "Stop teasing your brother, Marisol. And Edison: no fires in public please."

The flames extinguished as Marisol walked away, mumbling how it wasn't her fault.

The pool part of the festivities came to an end with cake to follow, but as the kids headed up to the apartment with the parents, Delta noticed Edison, still standing by the water's edge.

"Come on," she said to him. "Everyone is already gone."

"You're really lucky you see your dad so much," he said to Delta.

"Your dad's really busy doing great things for demigods all over the world," Delta said with a sigh. "And my dad's gone a lot too, and we get scared because we never know if he's going to come back."

"Don't you think it's worse to know that your dad is safe and still not around?" Edison kindled a small fire in his palm and stared at it sadly. "He's out there helping other demigods but what about his own kids?"

"You should be talking to your mom about this."

Delta reached for Edison's other hand to pull him along, but it was scorching hot to the touch. "Ow!" Delta cried, letting go.

"Sorry!" he apologized, turning toward her quickly. A little too quickly. Edison slipped and splashed head first into the pool. He bobbed up and down in the water, his body bursting into flames only to be fizzled out by the water.

"Come here," Delta shouted over the sound of evaporating water. She leaned over the pool's edge and held her hand out to him. "Give me your hand, Edison!" But it soon became clear to Delta that Edison couldn't swim. She looked around, frantic: there was no one. Even if she went for help, her friend would likely drown by the time she got hold of the elevator.

"Help!" Edison garbled, his mouth filling with water.

Delta's mind cleared: she knew what she had to do. Getting to her feet, she moved back and took a deep breath; crouching down, she reached forward with her hands and – jumped for the life preserver hanging on the wall. She then threw it to her friend, who clung to it as Delta pulled him to safety. Moments later, Percy rushed in.

"Are you okay?" he asked, running to their side. He put his hand on Edison's chest and helped clear out some of the water he had choked on. He glanced at his daughter who was still calm and composed. "You're getting pretty good at this saving people's lives business, aren't you Jellyfish?"

Delta smiled. She had managed to stay calm in a moment of panic; she had acted quickly and effectively, and saved her friend – all without having to move a single drop of water. Her father kissed her on the head. "I'm proud of you, Jellyfish," he whispered, smiling as well.

"Thanks dad. I'm pretty proud of me too."


End file.
